The Adventure Of The Three Robbers

The great satire of Lucius Apuleius, the work through which his
name lives after the lapse of nearly eighteen centuries, is "The
Golden Ass," a romance from which the following passage has been
selected and translated for these Mystery Stories. Lucius, the
personage who tells the story, is regarded in some quarters as a
portrayal of the author himself. The purpose of "The Golden Ass"
was to satirize false priests and other contemporary frauds. But
interspersed are many episodes of adventure and strange situations,
one of which is here given.

As Telephron reached the point of his story, his fellow revelers,
befuddled with their wine, renewed the boisterous uproar. And while the
old topers were clamoring for the customary libation to laughter,
Byrrhaena explained to me that the morrow was a day religiously observed
by her city from its cradle up; a day on which they alone among mortals
propitiated that most sacred god, Laughter, with hilarious and joyful
rites. "The fact that you are here," she added, "will make it all the
merrier. And I do wish that you would contribute something amusing out
of your own cleverness, in honor of the god, to help us duly worship
such an important divinity."

"Surely," said I, "what you ask shall be done. And, by Jove! I hope I
shall hit upon something good enough to make this mighty god of yours
reveal his presence."

Hereupon, my slave reminding me what hour of night it was, I speedily
got upon my feet, although none too steadily after my potations, and,
having duly taken leave of Byrrhaena, guided my zigzag steps upon the
homeward way. But at the very first corner we turned, a sudden gust of
wind blew out the solitary torch on which we depended, and left us,
plunged in the unforeseen blackness of night, to stumble wearily and
painfully to our abode, bruising our feet on every stone in the road.

But when at last, holding each other up, we drew near our goal, there
ahead of us were three others, of big and brawny build, expending the
full energy of their strength upon our doorposts. And far from being in
the least dismayed by our arrival, they seemed only fired to a greater
zeal and made assault more fiercely. Quite naturally, it seemed clear
to us both, and especially to me, that they were robbers, and of the
most dangerous sort. So I forthwith drew the blade which I carry hidden
under my cloak for such emergencies, and threw myself, undismayed, into
the midst of these highwaymen. One after another, as they successively
tried to withstand me, I ran them through, until finally all three lay
stretched at my feet, riddled with many a gaping wound, through which
they yielded up their breath. By this time Fotis, the maid, had been
aroused by the din of battle, and still panting and perspiring freely I
slipped in through the opening door, and, as weary as though I had
fought with the three-formed Geryon instead of those pugnacious
thieves, I yielded myself at one and the same moment to bed and to
slumber.

Soon rosy-fingered Dawn, shaking the purple reins, was guiding her
steeds across the path of heaven; and, snatched from my untroubled
rest, night gave me back to day. Dismay seized my soul at the
recollection of my deeds of the past evening. I sat there, crouching on
my bed, with my interlaced fingers hugging my knees, and freely gave
way to my distress; I already saw in fancy the court, the jury, the
verdict, the executioner. How could I hope to find any judge so mild,
so benevolent as to pronounce me innocent, soiled as I was with a
triple murder, stained with the blood of so many citizens? Was this the
glorious climax of my travels that the Chaldean, Diophanes, had so
confidently predicted for me? Again and again I went over the whole
matter bewailing my hard lot.

Hereupon there came a pounding at our doors and a steadily growing
clamor on the threshold. No sooner was admission given than, with an
impetuous rush, the whole house was filled with magistrates, police,
and the motley crowd that followed. Two officers, by order of the
magistrates, promptly laid hands upon me, and started to drag me off,
though resistance was the last thing I should have thought of. By the
time we had reached the first cross street the entire city was already
trailing at our heels in an astonishingly dense mass. And I marched
gloomily along with my head hanging down to the very earth--I might
even say to the lower regions below the earth.

At length after having made the circuit of every city square, in
exactly the way that the victims are led around before a sacrifice
meant to ward off evil omens, I was brought into the forum and made to
confront the tribunal of justice. The magistrates had taken their seats
upon the raised platform, the court crier had commanded silence, when
suddenly everyone present, as if with one voice, protested that in so
vast a gathering there was danger from the dense crowding, and demanded
that a case of such importance should be tried instead in the public
theater. No sooner said than the entire populace streamed onward,
helter-skelter, and in a marvelously short time had packed the whole
auditorium till every aisle and gallery was one solid mass. Many
swarmed up the columns, others dangled from the statues, while a few
there were that perched, half out of sight, on window ledges and
cornices; but all in their amazing eagerness seemed quite careless how
far they risked their lives. After the manner of a sacrifice I was led
by the public officials down the middle of the stage, and was left
standing in the midst of the orchestra. Once more the voice of the
court crier boomed forth, calling for the prosecutor, whereupon a
certain old man arose, and having first taken a small vase, the bottom
of which ended in a narrow funnel, and having filled it with water,
which escaping drop by drop should mark the length of his speech,
addressed the populace as follows:

"This is no trivial case, most honored citizens, but one which directly
concerns the peace of our entire city, and one which will be handed
down as a weighty precedent. Wherefore, your individual and common
interests equally demand that you should sustain the dignity of the
State, and not permit this brutal murderer to escape the penalty of the
wholesale butchery that resulted from his bloody deeds. And do not
think that I am influenced by any private motives, or giving vent to
personal animosity. For I am in command of the night watch, and up to
this time I think there is no one who will question my watchful
diligence. Accordingly I will state the case and faithfully set forth
the events of last night.

"It was about the hour of the third watch, and I was making my round of
the entire city, going from door to door with scrupulous vigilance,
when suddenly I beheld this bloodthirsty young man, sword in hand,
spreading carnage around him; already, no less than three victims of
his savagery lay writhing at his feet, gasping forth their breath in a
pool of blood. Stricken, as well he might be, with the guilt of so
great a crime, the fellow fled, and, slipping into one of the houses
under cover of the darkness, lay hidden the rest of the night. But,
thanks to the gods who permit no sinner to go unpunished, I forestalled
him at daybreak, before he could make his escape by secret ways, and
have brought him here for trial before your sacred tribunal of justice.
The prisoner at the bar is a threefold murderer; he was taken in the
very act; and, furthermore, he is a foreigner. Accordingly, it is your
plain duty to return a verdict of guilty against this man from a
strange land for a crime which you would severely punish even in the
case of one of your own citizens."

Having thus spoken, the remorseless prosecutor suspended his vindictive
utterance, and the court crier straightway ordered me to begin my
defense, if I had any to make. At first I could not sufficiently
control my voice to speak, although less overcome, alas, by the
harshness of the accusation than by my own guilty conscience. But at
last, miraculously inspired with courage, I made answer as follows:

"I realize how hard it is for a man accused of murder, and confronted
with the bodies of three of your citizens, to persuade so large a
multitude of his innocence, even though he tells the exact truth and
voluntarily admits the facts. But if in mercy you will give me an
attentive hearing, I shall easily make clear to you that far from
deserving to be put on trial for my life, I have wrongfully incurred
the heavy stigma of such a crime as the chance result of justifiable
indignation.

"I was making my way home from a dinner party at a rather late hour,
after drinking pretty freely, I won't attempt to deny--for that was the
head and front of my offense--when, lo and behold! before the very
doors of my abode, before the home of the good Milo, your
fellow-citizen, I beheld a number of villainous thieves trying to
effect an entrance and already prying the doors off from the twisted
hinges. All the locks and bolts, so carefully closed for the night, had
been wrenched away, and the thieves were planning the slaughter of the
inmates. Finally, one of them, bigger and more active than the rest,
urged them to action with these words:

"'Come on, boys! Show the stuff you are made of, and strike for all you
are worth while they are asleep! No quarter now, no faint-hearted
weakening! Let death go through the house with drawn sword! If you find
any in bed, slit their throats before they wake; if any try to resist,
cut them down. Our only chance of getting away safe and sound is to
leave no one else safe and sound in the whole house.'

"I confess, citizens, that I was badly frightened, both on account of
my hosts and myself; and believing that I was doing the duty of a good
citizen, I drew the sword which always accompanies me in readiness for
such dangers, and started in to drive away or lay low those desperate
robbers. But the barbarous and inhuman villains, far from being
frightened away, had the audacity to stand against me, although they
saw that I was armed. Their serried ranks opposed me. Next, the leader
and standard-bearer of the band, assailing me with brawny strength,
seized me with both hands by the hair, and bending me backward,
prepared to beat out my brains with a paving stone; but while he was
still shouting for one, with an unerring stroke I luckily ran him
through and stretched him at my feet. Before long a second stroke,
aimed between the shoulders, finished off another of them, as he clung
tooth and nail to my legs; while the third one, as he rashly advanced,
I stabbed full in the chest.

"Since I had fought on the side of law and order, in defense of public
safety and my host's home, I felt myself not only without blame but
deserving of public praise. I have never before been charged with even
the slightest infringement of the law; I enjoy a high reputation among
my own people, and all my life have valued a clear conscience above all
material possessions. Nor can I understand why I should suffer this
prosecution for having taken a just vengeance upon those worthless
thieves, since no one can show that there had ever before been any
enmity between us, or for that matter that I had ever had any previous
acquaintance with the thieves. You have not even established any motive
for which I may be supposed to have committed so great a crime."

At this point my emotion again overcame me, and with my hands extended
in entreaty, I turned from one to another, beseeching them to spare me
in the name of common humanity, for the sake of all that they held
dear. I thought by this time they must be moved to pity, thrilled with
sympathy for my wretchedness; accordingly I called to witness the Eye
of Justice and the Light of Day, and intrusted my case to the
providence of God, when lifting up my eyes I discovered that the whole
assembly was convulsed with laughter, not excepting my own kind host
and relative, Milo, who was shaking with merriment. "So much for
friendship!" I thought to myself, "so much for gratitude! In protecting
my host, I have become a murderer, on trial for my life; while he, far
from raising a finger to help me, makes a mock of my misery."

At this moment a woman clad in black rushed down the center of the
stage, weeping and wailing and clasping a small child to her breast. An
older woman, covered with rags and similarly shaken with sobs, followed
her, both of them waving olive branches as they passed around the bier
on which lay the covered bodies of the slain, and lifted up their
voices in mournful outcry: "For the sake of common humanity," they
wailed, "by all the universal laws of justice, be moved to pity by the
undeserved death of these young men! Give to a lonely wife and mother
the comfort of vengeance! Come to the aid of this unhappy child left
fatherless in his tender years, and offer up the blood of the assassin
at the shrine of law and order."

Hereupon the presiding magistrate arose and addressed the people:

"The crime for which the prisoner will later pay the full penalty, not
even he attempts to deny. But still another duty remains to be
performed, and that is to find out who were his accomplices in this
wicked deed; since it does not seem likely that one man alone could
have overcome three others so young and strong as these. We must apply
torture to extract the truth; and since the slave who accompanied him
has made his escape, there is no other alternative left us than to
wring the names of his companions from the prisoner himself, in order
that we may effectually relieve the public of all apprehension of
danger from this desperate gang."

Immediately, in accordance with the Greek usage, fire and the wheel
were brought forth, together with all the other instruments of torture.
Now indeed my distress was not only increased but multiplied when I saw
that I was fated to perish piecemeal. But at this point the old woman,
whose noisy lamentations had become a nuisance, broke out with this
demand:

"Honored citizens, before you proceed to torture the prisoner, on
account of the dear ones whom he has taken from me, will you not permit
the bodies of the deceased to be uncovered in order that the sight of
their youth and beauty may fire you with a righteous anger and a
severity proportioned to the crime?"

These words were received with applause, and straightway the magistrate
commanded that I myself should with my own hand draw off the covering
from the bodies lying on the bier. In spite of my struggles and
desperate determination not to look again upon the consequences of my
last night's deed, the court attendants promptly dragged me forward, in
obedience to the judge's order, and bending my arm by main force from
its place at my side stretched it out above the three corpses.
Conquered in the struggle, I yielded to necessity, and much against my
will drew down the covering and exposed the bodies.

Great heavens, what a sight! What a miracle! What a transformation in
my whole destiny! I had already begun to look upon myself as a vassal
of Proserpine, a bondsman of Hades, and now I could only gasp in
impotent amazement at the suddenness of the change; words fail me to
express fittingly the astounding metamorphosis. For the bodies of my
butchered victims were nothing more nor less than three inflated
bladders, whose sides still bore the scars of numerous punctures,
which, as I recalled my battle of the previous night, were situated at
the very points where I had inflicted gaping wounds upon my
adversaries. Hereupon the hilarity, which up to this point had been
fairly held in check, swept through the crowd like a conflagration.
Some gave themselves up helplessly to an unrestrained extravagance of
merriment; others did their best to control themselves, holding their
aching sides with both hands. And having all laughed until they could
laugh no more, they passed out of the theater, their backward glances
still centered upon me.

From the moment that I had drawn down that funeral pall I stood fixed
as if frozen into stone, as powerless to move as anyone of the
theater's statues or columns. Nor did I come out of my stupor until
Milo, my host, himself approached and clapping me on the shoulder, drew
me away with gentle violence, my tears now flowing freely and sobs
choking my voice. He led me back to the house by a roundabout way
through the least frequented streets, doing his best meanwhile to
soothe my nerves and heal my wounded feelings. But nothing he could say
availed to lessen my bitter indignation at having been made so
undeservedly ridiculous. But all at once the magistrates themselves,
still wearing their insignia of office, arrived at the house and made
personal amends in the following words:

"We are well aware, Master Lucius, both of your own high merit and that
of your family, for the renown of your name extends throughout the
land. Accordingly, you must understand that the treatment which you so
keenly resent was in no sense intended as an insult. Therefore, banish
your present gloomy mood and dismiss all anger from your mind. For the
festival, which we solemnly celebrate with each returning year in honor
of the God of Laughter, must always depend upon novelty for its
success. And so our god, who owes you so great a debt to-day, decrees
that his favoring presence shall follow you wherever you go, and that
your cheerful countenance shall everywhere be a signal for hilarity.
The whole city, out of gratitude, bestows upon you exceptional honors,
enrolling your name as one of its patrons, and decreeing that your
likeness in bronze shall be erected as a perpetual memorial of to-day."